Countywide : $112,347 on Its Way for Measles Fight

The California Department of Health Services released $1.2 million in emergency funds Wednesday to deal with what health officials say is the worst measles epidemic in the state in two decades.

Among the hardest hit by the epidemic have been Los Angeles and Orange counties, which will receive $300,000 and $112,347 respectively.

California health officials said the state death toll from measles for the first four months of this year has already surpassed the number of deaths due to measles for all of 1989. Measles has claimed 30 lives--two in Orange County--so far this year, contrasted with 20 the year before, health officials said.

There were 2,269 cases of the disease reported from January through April this year; for all of last year 3,048 cases were reported. Toddlers and other young children are most often the victims of the disease, officials said.

“It’s quite serious,” said Jaime Arteaga, a spokesman for the California Department of Health Services. “It’s because the children have not been immunized. We’re seeing a lot of cases among lower-income and migrant children.”

Twenty jurisdictions throughout the state will divide the funding, which is expected to reach local health agencies within the next two or three weeks. The money may be used to pay for increasing immunization services by expanding clinic staffs, hours of operation and locations of service. Funding may also be used to provide transportation to and from the clinics.

The aid is being provided from the state’s Special Needs and Priorities--commonly known as SNAP--funds, money that is left over from the fiscal year and made available for health emergencies.

Despite a shortage of vaccine earlier this year, health officials said they are confident there will be enough through the end of the year. Merck, Sharp & Dohme, the manufacturer of the vaccine, has assured the state that the company “will meet all anticipated demands through 1990,” Arteaga said.